The Last Day
by TheAngel'sWings
Summary: A last day, a new beginning. And a memory to last a lifetime. One-shot challenge Week 1


**The Last Day**

Last days had never really made sense to Annabeth. Or rather, they didn't often. To her, they were always the start of a new beginning – even death was just a change, a beginning rather than an end. And, for this reason at least, she never really found last days really sad. After all, she had reasoned, even though memories weren't as good as the real thing, they could get you through the days well enough.

This last day was slightly different from any other that Annabeth had experienced, though. It was the last day of camp, and the last year that she could properly come back just as a camper. Annabeth was now 19, almost 20, and would soon returning to another year working on her Architecture Masters degree at Columbia University.

It had been three years since the War, and only eighteen months since the new Olympus had ceased to be a building site. And so much had changed. Even in the past few months, she reflected, a lot was different. Camp had been...different, too. And it was mostly due to one demi-god. Annabeth had never had problems with the idea that whilst she and Percy were an item, they didn't need to spend every minute together. After all, wasn't it said that absence makes the heart grow fonder? But Percy had been more aloof and watchful this summer, and it worried Annabeth. It had been obvious that there was something on his mind, but every time she had tried to find out what it was, he had been secretive, and changed the subject quickly, although he had also been quick to tease her, so she had tried to put it out of her mind and play along. However, with the last day of camp, she was worried. They wouldn't see each other so regularly over the coming year, and this only fuelled her anxieties.

So now, walking down to the beach, to a place that only she and Percy knew about, Annabeth was nervous. The pessimistic side of her brain kept whispering things, words that she didn't want to hear. What if Percy had asked her here to break up? What if he had found someone else? _Or, _said a tiny part of her mind that had crept, unbidden, into the melting pot of thoughts, _what if he's going to pop the question?_ She promptly squashed it (metaphorically). There was no point in false hopes.

She found the little cove-beach as it always was – sand, cliffs and sea. Facing away from her, looking towards the open sea and the sunset, was the silhouette of a man. Percy. Idly, she wondered what the purpose of this was. Before she could say anything, or even announce her presence, he half-turned his head, and seeing her, crossed the space between them and enveloped her in his arms.

Softly, he whispered in her ear, "Don't shoot me for this, okay?"

Annabeth was surprised by how cryptic it was, and all the possibilities that it could imply.

"Annabeth, I don't know how to say this." He lapsed into a thoughtful silence, as if trying to remember what he intended to say. "I want you to be happy. And..." When he paused again, Annabeth wished it would go any other direction than the one it seemed to be going in. It was times like these that becoming a Huntress didn't seem like such a bad idea.

But even as these thoughts swirled inside her, she made herself a silent promise that whatever happened, she wouldn't cry. It wasn't the biggest obstacle she'd ever had to overcome, and cold logic dictated that even if the worst did come to pass, it wouldn't be too difficult to just...change. Percy turned back to the sea for a moment. As he turned backwards towards her, she looked skywards to check for rain, in defiance of all probability of what was making her cheeks wet.

"Annabeth...why are you crying?" He paused, as if weighing up his next words, "You aren't making this easier for me, do you know?"

Gently wiping the tears off her face with one hand, he reached into his pocket, and brought out a silvery grey, velvet covered box, a few inches square.

"It's for you," he murmured, turning it around in an attempt to find the edge opposite the hinge. "But...I want you to understand something first, so let me speak..." She looked up at him, quickly, hardly daring to breathe.

"This doesn't mean anything has to be rushed, because...er, I know we'll be busy with college and stuff for a few years... All it means is...well, that we'll take things at our own pace. It doesn't matter if it's next year, in five years time, or when we're forty-five." He smiled, in quite a humourless way. He opened the box, and presented it to her. "But all the same, will you marry me?"

In front of her, lying in the black velvet cushion was a white gold band, plain except for a single sparkling diamond. Coiled around it like a strange, silver snake was a bracelet.

Percy cleared his throat, blushing slightly. "I thought it would be nice if you had something for... after the wedding, to remind you of everything...before." He took in her expression, which was slightly quizzical. "It all made sense in my head... What I meant was, if you say yes, then after the wedding, you'll wear the wedding ring, right? So I thought why not have something you could always wear?" Annabeth nodded mutely, understanding his thoughts.

He interrupted gently. "Well, Annabeth?" She looked at him again, before saying in a slightly cracked voice, "Yes."

Percy slid the ring onto her finger, turning it this way and that to admire the sparkles. While she was picking up the bracelet, he added, "You know, the bracelet is as much your engagement present as the ring, so it doesn't matter if you don't wear one or the other..." Annabeth nodded again, before adding her own comment.

"So if I didn't want to be pestered by siblings or dorm mates, I could just wear the bracelet, yeah?"

"Of course!"

She was trying to work out how to put the bracelet on when she noticed the details on it that she hadn't seen before. The clasp was a tiny silver padlock in the shape of a heart, complete with miniature 'keyhole'. It also had an identity bracelet 'tag' engraved with _Annabeth _in a cursive italic script. "Wow," She whispered.

"There's more," said Percy. He took it and turned it over. On the other side, a small heart was engraved in the middle, and at either end was a symbol – one was an owl, the other a trident. "And if you notice," he added with a half-smile, "the owl is on the right, because it seems like you're always right."

And so, to both of them, oblivious to the sunset before them and the first stars behind them, this wasn't going to be a last day, it would be a new beginning, a first day. The first day of a new chapter in their story.

Last days had never made much sense to Annabeth, and as she reflected, she didn't think they ever would, really.

**A/N: Well, I'm finally back to writing again. **

**Anyway, with this, I worked on the assumption that whilst Percy and Annabeth (but particularly Percy) are still kids at heart, they do have their serious moments, and aren't always teasing and so on. Also, I do know this plot is cliche, but I wanted to put my own twist on it, in defiance of certain variations on it.**

**Finally, this was written for WindowChild and ShadowPalace's One-shot contest, so check it out if you're interested, it's good inspiration/motivation (a deadline! Finally!)**

**Word count: 1232**

**~TheAngel'sWings**


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